Working to build a world without Fentanyl deaths
We are a team of researchers, clinicians and biotech executives with a strong track record in substance abuse and CNS with multiple commercial exits
Tracy M. Woody - President & Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Woody has served as a member of the Board of Esperion Therapeutics since May 2019. Ms. Woody previously served as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTGX) from April 2020 to July 2022.
Ms. Woody previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Versartis, Inc. from 2017 to 2018 and KemPharm, Inc. from 2015 to 2016. Prior to KemPharm, Ms. Woody was Vice President of Sales and Marketing of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), and Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Greer Laboratories. Ms. Woody currently serves as a board member of Shorla Pharma. Ms. Woody has over 25 years of commercial experience in pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices, across a wide range of therapeutic areas in diverse markets. Ms. Woody also has experience with multi-billion dollar revenue brands as well as products in the rare disease space.
Ms. Woody holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Applied Physiology from East Carolina University.
The Team
Andrew C. Barrett, Ph.D. - Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Andrew Barrett has over 25 years of experience in academia and industry and is widely regarded as an expert in CNS pharmacology and therapeutics. Dr. Barrett earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship in Addiction at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital, where he conducted research on medications development for Substance Use Disorders. Dr. Barrett received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to complete both his doctoral and postdoctoral training and remains passionate about identifying and developing candidate medications for Substance Use Disorders. Prior to joining Cessation, Dr. Barrett held positions of increasing seniority at Cephalon (acquired by Teva in 2011), Synchrony Healthcare, Salix Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Valeant in 2015), and KemPharm. Dr. Barrett has published over 40 original manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, focusing primarily on the abuse-related effects of opioids, stimulants, and other drugs.
Paul Bremer, Ph.D. - Research and Development Director
As a passionate scientist, Dr. Bremer is committed to the discovery and advancement of innovative drug candidates that have the potential to effectively treat patients suffering from diseases.
In 2018, Dr. Bremer joined Cessation Therapeutics to pursue the research and development of anti-drug addiction immunotherapies and has established Cessation as a resident company at the JLabs San Diego biotech incubator. Such a role is a continuation of the scientific projects that he worked on as a graduate student in Dr. Kim Janda’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Here under a research fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Dr. Bremer helped pioneer vaccines and antibodies that combat the effects of some of the deadliest opioids such as fentanyl and heroin. This work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Bremer continues a collaborative position at TSRI and also held a scientist position at Vertex Pharma. In addition to his PhD from TSRI, Dr. Bremer has a BA in chemistry from Colgate University. Paul’s publications can be found here.
Nicholas Jacob, Ph.D. - Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Jacob joined Cessation Therapeutics in 2019 as a PhD graduate from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). He worked in the research group of Dr. Kim Janda as an NIH Clinical Translation Science Award (CTSA) fellow on the preclinical development of new adjuvant strategies for substance use vaccines and antibody optimization. Dr. Jacob has published extensively on this research work in the improvement of nicotine and cocaine vaccines. He also has extensive experience in grant writing and securing funding through this mechanism. His focus on brining translational aspects of research to the bench will be fundamental in accelerating products to market efficiently for Cessation.
In addition to his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from TSRI, Nick holds a BS in chemistry from the University of Rochester. Nick’s publications can be found here.
Joshua Sills - Operations
Mr. Sills is the VP of Operations of Dialectic Therapeutics, a biotech company dedicated to the development of unique, impactful anti-cancer drugs that effectively treat patients with few to no other options. Mr. Sills has 15 years of experience in technical operations, project management, and leading teams on location and remotely while working in over seventy countries.
Mr. Sills earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Florida State University.
Mark E. Pearson - Co-Founder & Board Member
Mark is the Founder and CEO of Altamont Pharma Holdings as well as a General Partner of Annex Ventures. Mark has been investing in startup Life Science and Technology companies for over 20 years.
Mark is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of Drawbridge Realty, a San Francisco based real estate development and investment company, which owns over 6 million square feet of commercial real estate leased to Technology and Life Science companies predominantly in the western United States. Drawbridge Realty's portfolio exceeds $2.5 billion in asset value. In December 2014, Drawbridge Realty formed a partnership with international asset management firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LP (“KKR”) which made a significant investment in the company to substantially grow the platform.
Mark is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of Drawbridge Realty, a San Francisco based real estate development and investment company, which owns over 6 million square feet of commercial real estate leased to Technology and Life Science companies predominantly in the western United States. Drawbridge Realty's portfolio exceeds $2.5 billion in asset value. In December 2014, Drawbridge Realty formed a partnership with international asset management firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LP (“KKR”) which made a significant investment in the company to substantially grow the platform.
John D. Harkey, Jr. - Co-Founder & Board Member
Mr. Harkey was Co-Founder and formerly Executive Chairman of the Board of AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVXS), acquired by Novartis in 2018 for $8.7 billion), which develops proprietary gene therapies for rare neurological genetic diseases. John has over 25 years of experience as a private investor, chief executive and director in both public and private companies. He has merged, acquired, operated and/or served on the board of directors of eight public companies in biotech, energy, technology, aerospace, telecom and restaurants, and private companies in healthcare, real estate, farm and ranch products and software. He previously served nine years on the Board of Directors of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation.
The Board
Jay Shepard - Board Member
Mr. Shepard served as Executive Chairman of Versartis, Inc., from December 2013 to 2015. In May 2015, Mr. Shepard joined Versartis as President and CEO. In 2018, Versartis merged with Aravive (NASDAQ: ARAV), and he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer from May 2018 to January 2020, when he retired.
Sharon Tetlow - Board Member
Ms. Tetlow has served as Managing Partner of Potrero Hill Advisors since January 2016. Potrero Hill Advisors provides strategic and operational financial support to life science companies through its team of chief financial officers and controllers.
Ms. Tetlow was previously the Managing Director of Danforth Advisors from April 2013 to January 2016. She served as Chief Financial Officer of Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc, a privately held biotechnology company, from 2011 to 2013. From 2005 to 2009, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc.(CEGE) a publicly traded biotechnology company.
Ms. Tetlow was previously the Managing Director of Danforth Advisors from April 2013 to January 2016. She served as Chief Financial Officer of Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc, a privately held biotechnology company, from 2011 to 2013. From 2005 to 2009, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc.(CEGE) a publicly traded biotechnology company.
Daniel Fine - Board Member
Daniel Fine is currently Managing Director of West Summit Investments, in Dallas, Texas. West Summit is a private investment company with an emphasis on biotech and interests in banking and real estate. Over the previous 10 years, Mr. Fine was a Director and EVP of two-family offices with a focus on Real Estate, Oil and Gas, and Private Equity investing. Prior to the private investment business, he spent six years working for the Hicks Sports Marketing Group as the Vice President of Sales for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and Senior Vice President of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
In Memoriam: Dr. David Genecov, M. D. - Co-Founder, Former Chief Medical Officer & Board Member
Dr. David Genecov is a dedicated physician in the field of cleft lip and palate, craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery. David has over 25 years of experience as a practicing surgeon, private investor, chief executive and director in both public and private companies. Dr. Genecov was Co-Founder and former director of AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVXS), acquired by Novartis in 2018 for $8.7 billion, which develops proprietary gene therapies for rare neurological genetic diseases. David also founded or co-founded numerous companies in the health care industry, including Skin Within, Inc., Synergy Surgical Services LLC, Biolife Cell Bank LLC and is the owner and director of The Modern Medical Spa. He was a director and investor of CerSci Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company using non opioid approaches to treat pain, which was sold to Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD) in 2020 for up to $940 million. David is a director and co-founder of Cessation Therapeutics, Inc., a company based on the treatment of substance use disorders with monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. Currently, Dr. Genecov serves as the President and CEO of Dialectic Therapeutics, Inc., a Dallas-based precision oncology company using innovative new protein degradation technologies to treat cancer.